POV switches

[melchi]

Does anyone else agonize over this? I know it is a meaningful way to show different aspects of the story that would go unnoticed if excluded but as a reader, I really hate it when the spotlight goes off the main character needlessly. It screams filler.

But it still leaves the question: How to show other people's perspective on things?

Then there are also other considerations, like I don't like POV changes that are really short. People call that head hopping. So if I do it then I want to have a whole chapter of content. But then I think, are readers going to think this is filler? It is making to story pace too slow?

Sometime I just want to go 'bleh' and be paralyzed with indecision.

 

[John_Owl]

It should be done minimally, but like any other rule in writing, it can be bent or broken if needed. My current run, I switch between different POVs to show what different people are doing at any given point in time.

as for head hopping, Other may disagree, but I definitely do, though only rarely. If I've got two parties coming together for a tense moment, I'm fine head hopping to show both sides immediately leading up to the actual meeting. My last chapter, I head hopped as the MC burst through a window to attack the antagonist.

but yes, in general, I only change POVs to show something that will later affect the protagonist or plot in some relevant way. sadly, webnovel readers aren't always the most patient and willing to wait for a payoff.

 

[LilRora]

For me, POV switches are generally bad. Most of them are far too short to build any connection with the character and only serve to show a biased view of the protagonist.

My take on this might be a little extreme, but for me, there should completely no POVs outside of the main characters, except some rare cases such as epilogues or special interludes. Slowing down the pace of the story isn't an issue - if it's not written really badly, it won't stretch things all that much. The real issue is the shifting attention, which breaks immersion and has issues related to something called attention retention - it's most commonly used to explain some patterns in doing tasks that require focus, but it also applies very well to reading stories.

To explain it simply, even after we finish something, some of our focus or attention remains on it whether we want it or not. It takes something engaging and stimulating to get us to fully focus on another thing, but even then it takes time. What happens when POV changes is usually the complete opposite - the reader's focused on the mc's story, then they're abruptly thrown to some other character that might or might be at all related to the main storyline. That makes it impossible to immerse fully in the events, especially if the POV is new or isn't very engaging - let's be honest, if the reader is invested in the main story, they're probably not gonna find the new POV interesting.

 

[HolyCow]

I'm assuming you are an author if you are asking this, so I will try and inform you of what I know.

First, understand the character you are trying to write a perspective of to make sure that the readers know who this is without you telling them; it will help readers differentiate characters. What I mean by understanding their character is by highlighting characteristics that are unique to them such as their personalities.

Second, ponder whether the change in perspective is relevant. For example, you just finish writing a scene wherein your protagonist just came out of a dangerous situation and saved some people, then the chapter ends. In the next scene, you write a perspective about a nameless character who your protagonist saved in the previous chapter. Basically, the repeated scenario but in the eyes of the side character. Ask yourself as the author, is this relevant? Does it provide helpful information to readers without actually telling them?

Third, if you are writing a multi-perspective book try to mix your POV a bit. For example, don't write a POV that lasts for 100 pages and then it shifts, because the readers will become comfortable with that one POV by the time you shift. They will feel uncomfortable reading from a perspective they don't know since they have been used to one POV.

Fourth, do not shift perspective mid-scene. For example your protagonist is in a life or death fight, but in the climax of the fight you shift your perspective to another character.

That is all I know. I hope you find this relevant.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

I don't think it's a bad thing and never considered it to be something strange. I've read it in a lot of officially published books as well, and there's editors to sort out what can't be done. That why I don't really get behind the idea of agonizing over this matter as some people do - I'm not even talking to OP here in particular. I had one person tell me they got confused, but I believe they weren't actually reading the story properly, because it was a transmigration plot in which MC died in the Prologue, to wake up in a different body in Chapter 1. The guy didn't only not understand what the name of the protagonist was, but also didn't understand "who died". And no, nobody has ever had trouble discerning that before. So yeah, there's that.
Anyway, I usually don't even write third person, but first person. I wrote first person for 10 years, also wrote present tense, but then I started those three Webnovels after years of having a writer's block, deciding they would fit past tense, third person. One of the main reasons was the overall cast that I wanted to shine light on, because the feeling of a Webnovel, likely longer than a print, made me want to use the story to explore more "around the world". So when the scene calls for it, I will bring in the thoughts and feelings of people around the MC and sometimes, I will "follow" one of those people out of the room as well or just go and check in on someone else after a scene ends. Yeah, you shouldn't completely overdo it and make sure to state who you're following right now, but that's about as much fretting as I would advise you to do.

 

[Kalliel]

The easiest solution would be to write in third person.

If you are committed to writing in first person, here is my opinion. I have read a lot of Korean webnovels, and most of them do switch PoVs often. Sometimes, they are done badly, and sometimes, they are good enough.

The type that I consider the most pleasant is when the only first person is the main character, and the rest are clumped into third person. I don't need to try and understand whose PoV this one specific part belongs to, so it is nice. Moreover, in this way, I don't feel a thing, even if the section is short.

 

[melchi]

I generally write third person limited. I can see how in first person it would be much more jarring.

But how do you drop hints about what an antagonist is up to far away?

Switching to another country is a bit too much and if the antagonist doesn't know about the protagonist yet it would really take the spotlight off them.

 

[LilRora]

I generally write third person limited. I can see how in first person it would be much more jarring.

But how do you drop hints about what an antagonist is up to far away?

Switching to another country is a bit too much and if the antagonist doesn't know about the protagonist yet it would really take the spotlight off them.

Assuming you are set on dropping the hints (I, personally, wouldn't drop any until it directly impacts the main character) then I think the best way is to somehow slide it into the story, into a dialogue or into some events, such as overhearing interesting talks in a tavern or finding some hints in an initially unrelated place, something like stealing some documents on the side, or stumbling upon the information doing another request. It can even be something like an idle talk with a merchant, or something.

The main reason for this approach is, it's supposed to be a hint. What many people do is closer to a bait, because it shows exactly what's happening but doesn't actually reveal the most important bits. Hints are vague and keep people guessing as to what exactly is happening.

If that's impossible or very difficult for whatever reason, then I don't think there's another way other than change of POV. Even there, though, you can avoid directly showing what's going on, so like, instead of showing the POV of the main villain, show the POV of his minion - that makes the mystery and the uncertainty real and relatable, not like showing the grand plan directly. That minion might or might not be related to the main character - maybe he saw him recently, or maybe he came into conflict with them, or maybe they're on the other side of the continent.

 

[prognastat]

POV switches are a divisive thing.

People tend to be very particular about liking or not liking it and also exactly how they like it to be done. Generally less is more though. Unless shifting the POV away from your MC is adding integral information necessary for your story its best to err on staying on the MCs side as there are more that will stop reading because you POV shift too much than people that will because you do it too little.

Personally I'm okay with it a little, but it can quickly becomes annoying. If the alternate POVs character is less interesting than MC and it isn't providing valuable extra information regarding the world and how it relates to the MC I don't have a high tolerance for switching to it. Only switch away when you must and once you have completed what you wanted to convey get back to your main characters POV.

An alternate take is that it's a skill issue. If your character writing is great and I like both the MC and the alternate POV character and it fits in well with the main storyline you can do almost anything you want. However that's the case for just about anything in writing. If you're good enough you can pull off a lot more.

 

[seahorsepink1]

if your story includes the genre, mystery, then it might be okay. otherwise, I highly advise against needlessly using different POV unless it's introducing an Arc-long issue.

 

[Dork_08]

Yeah, I tried writing a book about POV switching, and not only did it just not seem right at all, it was hard to keep up with whose mindset I had to be in during each chapter, most of the time it just ruined their personalities and it was really confusing.
Although there are some good books at there who have 2 absolute main characters, they switch off POVs and it's still a really good book or series. Other than that it's just not a good tactic for a book to be honest

One Night Stands

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

It can really add to a story if it's well executed. The problem is that even if it doesn't feel like filler, it can be jarring. I read “Way of Kings” by Brandon Sanderson, and the POV switches a lot like every chapter almost. Yet it is still a good book, and if you get through the switches you end up with a very full reading experience. If you want to see it done well, I can recommend this one.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

I find it a very useful narrative technique for characterizing other characters besides the MC, especially when not using an omniscient narrator.
In my case, the protagonist usually has a first-person POV, while the other characters have a limited third-person POV.

 

[BearlyAlive]

I've seen (and tried to write) scenes where the POV just spins round and round the whole chapter. You can certainly have your fun with pov switches like the pov following an item that gets thrown around (like a ticking timebomb or something) or stays in place while characters change theirs or other totally weird stuff.

As long as the chapter is coherent.